Our House

We are finally settled to the point of posting some pictures of our apartment, which is in an old house that has been split into 2 apartments.  There is a Swiss family that lives on the bottom 2 floors and we live on the top 2.  We actually have a nice sized laundry room when you walk into our front entry door.  From there you walk up some marble stairs to the door into our apartment.  There are hard floors throughout, no carpet to be found unless you purchase rugs.  Things are built for the long term so wood, tile, and granite are found throughout the house and walls are good 'ole concrete.  Good thing about hard floors is you don't have to worry about stains, but you also see all the dust bunnies which drive me nuts so I end up vacuuming every 3-4 days.  So I wonder how nasty my carpet was since it was only vacuumed every 2 weeks.  I don't know if I really want to know ; )   Oh yeah and there are no light fixtures yet since we haven't purchased them.  Fixtures typically do not come with the apartment, the renter needs to purchase after they move in or from the previous tenant.  Please excuse the light bulbs hanging from wires.

Inside entry door upstairs from laundry room.  Dining and family through doorway and Aaron's room to far right.

Same spot scanning to right with stairs and hallway behind the stairs.  

Still at entry door looking to left at kitchen door and into our bedroom.

At doorway looking into kitchen.

Different angle of kitchen.

Terrace off kitchen with our table and chairs, which we have used more since moving here than back in IA!

Here is a picture from the kitchen terrace where on a clear day you can see the top of Mont Blanc in France.  Sadly, Randy and I were talking about that snow peak and it wasn't until later I realized what it was.  I won't speak for Randy since he can't defend himself : )  I guess I need to study Europe geography.

Our bedroom with two doors on each side of dark wardrobe (Niki's piece of work) going onto another terrace.

If our bedroom shutters are left open, this is my view when I wake up in the morning.  Most homes have blinds or shutters on the outside to keep the sun out or noise down at night.

Aaron's room.

Aaron's room with another IKEA wardrobe, courtesy of Niki.

To right of Aaron's room.  Extra storage or pantry in our case.

Hallway next to stairs with the best iron ever and extra fridge and freezer.

Dining room with doorway into our bedroom and out to the terrace.

Standing in doorway with dining room behind me looking into family room.

Another view of family room.  Yes, the kids are at the computer enjoying some US TV.

Another view of family room and terrace that runs along dining room and our bedroom.

At top of stairs with guinea pig cage, Hailey's room to left, Sydney's to the right, and their bathroom to the right of Sydney's room.

Hailey's room

Hailey's room with another IKEA wardrobe, this is the only one I put together.

Another view of Hailey's room with sink and bonus "art studio" beyond open door.

Hailey's bonus room or "art studio".  Looks more like a toy room to me, but girls insist on "art studio".

Storage to left of Hailey's door.  This replaces my unfinished basement back in IA, good thing I did a lot of purging!!  I have only hit my head a couple of times so far.

Sydney's room with the best view and will also be the guest room.

Another view with her own private terrace through door on right.  Chilled wine served to visitors during happy hour out on the terrace!!!  Anyone convinced to come visit yet???

Another picture from her terrace door.

Girl's (or guest) bathroom with a beautiful view of lake and mountains while enjoying a private shower.   Owner will be hanging something to keep shower water in, which saves us from having to pay.  How am I doing on my marketing campaign for Rude Hotel?

Randy did an awesome job and with every place there are trade offs.  We could have waited to see if we could find something in Lutry or Pully which would give you spectacular views of the lake and mountains, but odds are it would be quite small and most likely require us to have a second car.  I think our place is perfect.  We have a great view, on the bus line, and has some character.  Randy and I always thought it would be neat to live in the city, so here we go!

Exploring in Lausanne

Well, we have survived the week with Randy gone and no car!  Unfortunately Randy's flight is delayed and he won't get home until tomorrow afternoon.  Friday afternoon the kids and I took the bus towards Riponne, which is close to the center of the city and has an open air market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.  This was the market we tried to go to on our first Saturday but only found a small section.  We met up with the McKeehan's again and she showed me around some of the stores, which I am sure I will get lost in.  They are all built on a hill so you can go in one door and out another and be on a completely different level of the city, which makes it easier to avoid walking up the hill.  We are short on towels since ours didn't make the air shipment cut so I went to price them out in case I needed to pick up a couple more.  Well, I think I am better off waiting and bringing some back since they are 35-60CHF or ~$40-$65USD each.

We stopped at a clock with a fountain and figurines that come out with a story in French every hour.  Of course the Rude's didn't have a clue what the story was about.  Maybe next time???  Here are some pictures from today.

Fountain with clock in the background under green shutters.

Clock with soldiers marching across.

Kids running around the fountain, which we later read, thanks to Macy, was not allowed.  Oops!

Next week the girls' are in language camp from 9-4:30 so it will just be Aaron and I.  We are slowly making progress with him being potty trained so hopefully after next week we can say we are officially done with diapers and pull ups.  It makes it a little difficult in Switzerland since there are not restrooms everywhere like back in the states.  Some of the department stores we were in had only one bathroom for multiple floors, unlike in the states where there is usually one every floor or every other.  Today he went out in underwear and did go once, but then had an accident before we got back home.  Guess we will keep plugging away!

Trip to Zoo de Servion

On Tuesday we went to the zoo with the McKeehen's.  They were kind enough to pick us up since we are without a car until ours is ready for delivery next Tuesday.  It has been rainy and chilly here with temps trying to hit 60.  Far cooler than what everyone is experiencing back in the states!!  The zoo was on the small side which was perfect since we were trying to get to all the animals before the rain moved in.  There was also a park the kids had a blast playing on and once again I packed a picnic lunch.  I think I have packed more picnic lunches since moving here than I have packed my entire life!  Considering how small it was they had a great assortment of animals.  Lions, tigers, bears, monkeys, wallaby, plus many more.  Here are a few pictures.

Bear trying to get at lunch, which was a frozen brick filled with fruit.

Kid sized hamster wheel.  This may be a better option than having them run around the block, if I only had room!

Sydney on a zip line they had at the park.

After the zoo we headed back to McKeehen's so the kids could play and enjoy some yummy birthday cake for Payton's 6th birthday.  Wednesday night we had our first sleep over with the Rosen twins, which are 5 years old.  The girls have a great time playing together and have been asking to have a sleepover since shortly after we met.

All settled in in the "art studio" or toy room, which is a little room off of Hailey's room .

There was a glimmer of hope I would get my car on Thursday, but unfortunately there was a mistake and we won't be able to pick up until next Tuesday.  So it was off to the grocery store.  The kids and I grabbed my grocery cart and walked down to the store.  After dropping off some recycling it was off to the post office to sign for a package.  The kids were very excited as the package was for them from Aunt Bette.  They couldn't wait to get home and were great helpers at the store.  They each had their own basket and when all items, plus a few more, were in the baskets it was time to check out.  With grocery cart packed it was off to the bus stop since they didn't want to walk up the hill to get home and they thought it would be faster so they could get home and open their package.  They have monitors at most bus stops so you can see when your bus will arrive and our bus wouldn't arrive for 6 minutes so we decided to see if we could beat the bus home.  So the kids were off running up the hill to beat the bus, it was Rude's vs the bus and we were determined to win, even Aaron as his little legs got tired.  When he wanted me to carry him I would remind him of the race and off he went.  There was no way I was going to carry him and pull the grocery cart!!  The Rude's had their first victory over the bus and boy did we get a work out : )

Sauvabelin

On Saturday my wonderful husband took the kids to Sauvabelin so I could have some time to myself and get some things done.  While they were gone I was off to the grocery store since we are without a car after Monday, I sure hope our car is ready for delivery soon!!  Fortunately we are on the two bus lines and there is no way I would give up the rental if it wasn't for the public transportation in Lausanne.  We are walking distance to the grocery store and I bought enough milk to last us two months.  We buy UHT milk, which is ultra pasteurized and doesn't require refrigeration.  The two cases I bought yesterday don't expire until the end of October, so we should be set and won't have to worry about carrying anything heavy up the hill when coming back from the store.

Back to Randy's day out with the kids.  The headed to Sauvabelin in Lausanne so were able to go by bus.  There is a huge lookout tower you can climb up for some great views.  They also enjoyed a row boat ride on the lake with some huge fish.  The kids had a great time, but talked more about the lady that pushed Sydney out of her seat on the bus so she could sit down.  I think it is the culture here were you respect your elderly and give your seat to them when they get on the bus.  This was confirmed by Danilo, who we skated with in CR and grew up in this area.  He stopped by Sunday night to visit during his trip to visit some friends.

Here are some pictures from their day.  I don't have much for comments since I was getting stuff done.

Lookout tower with stairs.

Girls starting the climb up to the top.

Picture from the top of the tower.

Kids walking through the wooded area.

Picture of lake waiting for row boat.

The bottom right has the big fish that impressed the kids.

Kids feeding the ducks.

Randy and kids stopped at St Francois on there way home.

Sunday it rained for most of the day.  Randy headed out to pick up a couple more items from a family that is heading back to the states.  The kids were very excited about one of the items, which was a microwave.  We have been without a microwave since we arrived and I have been heating things up the old fashioned way.  The minute it was plugged in Sydney ran upstairs so we could make microwave popcorn!!  So this is where it go, "When I was a kid...".  We all know how it goes and wow we must getting old.  It is amazing how far technology has taken us and I wonder what our grandkids will have that our children didn't.

Day trip to Ballenberg

On Friday we took our first day trip with Rachel McKeehan and her two daughters, which are roughly Sydney and Hailey's age.  They have been here 4 years and were kind enough to invite us to Ballenberg about 2 hours away.  The drive was absolutely beautiful and the kids were great on the drive.  We drove north through Bern toward Lucerne.  Once there we had a picnic lunch before heading in and checking it out.  Ballenberg is a huge open air museum with over 100 century old buildings, farm animals, and hands on activities.  I was a little surprised to see how interested the kids were in all the buildings and exploring them from top to bottom.  Hopefully this is a great first step towards opening their eyes to museums.

Girls at the first house eager to explore the inside.

Kids standing by large bells.

Hailey giving the water pump a try.  Oddly enough no one fell in!

Kids hammering nails into different kinds of wood.

Aaron next to the big oxen.

Aaron working  on getting his nail all the way in.  He could have stayed there all day.

Now onto wood carving and no one cut themself.

House with toys!!  Aaron loved the marble run and girls gave the stilts a try.

I had to give it a go since I used to walk around on them all the time as a kid with a pair my dad built for me.

Sydney finally got it and her faces says it all!!

Building with cow bells and mountain in background.

Beautiful view with waterfall.

Playground area for kids and bowling, which Aaron loved.

There was a separate area for the kids to go in with the goats.

My attempt to distract Hailey from her pouting by taking a picture.  This was on our way out so everyone was getting pretty tired.

Picture as we were walking through the woods back to the car.  The trees were huge!!!

Another beautiful picture of the countryside.

It was a great day and everyone was wiped out on the way home after we did a lot of walking and going up and down stairs.